If you can wait
by Castleleopard20
Summary: Clint and Natasha have been partners for a very, very long time. They can deny it all they want, but how long until they finally give in to each other? Rated M for later chapters, Clintasha fo lyfe.
1. Patience

**Authors note: First chapter guys, would love to hear some feedback. I know it's thin. It's a pilot, a demo if you will. And my first story on fanfiction. Future chapters will be longer. I pwomise ;)**

"Your move Barton." She said lifting a single eyebrow. The two were enjoying a game of chess in the break room, a pastime they both cherished. The peace and quiet was exactly what they needed to escape from the gray lives they led at S.H.I.E.L.D. He looked at her closely,studying her unshifting green eyes, often boldly glancing down at her chest.

"Patience is the key to any game Natasha," he said moving his king to the right. "Haven't your assassination attempts taught you that?"

"Trust me, you don't know patience like I do." She replied, hanging her head to analyze the table. And looked up discreetly to admire his broad shoulders.

"Are you implying something about Sokovia?" He said as she carefully moved her rook back to safety.

"No not at all, I just thought you would have waited longer for that tank to stop."

"God you and your passive-aggressiveness." He chuckled, trying to return his focus to the chess game while she smiled, biting her lip to keep herself from grinning. She made a mental note that these were her favorite moments with her longtime partner. Sure the constant flirting was nice, but peace and quiet and him was all she wanted. While Hawkeye planned his next move she saw Scarlet Witch lovingly hang her arms around her brother from outside the break room. He returned the favor and pecked her forehead.

"Speaking of Sokovia," She said, nodding toward them,

"Yeah, what about 'em." He replied not taking his eyes off the board.

"Don't they kind of, I don't know, creep you out sometimes?"

"Ah leave 'em be." He said, still intently focused.

"Come on Clint it's not like I'm gonna cheat, look." Sensing her slightly frustrated tone at his inattentiveness he turned. Pietro had now moved on to her lower neck, met with sighs and soft giggles from his sister.

"Mm, I don't know, he said turning back around, "You've had a history of cheating." He moved his horse up to kill her pawn. She knew he was trying to annoy her, that was a bad move from his standards. But the way he provoked her made her want to explode.

"You're one to talk, you hardly have the patience for the girl whose bedroom you sneak out of the next morning." She shot back, merely amusing her partner.

"Aw come on Romanoff that was rough."

"You deserve rough." He let a few chuckles escape.

"What's got you so riled up about the twins anyway?" The archer asked as she readied her queen for a counterattack.

"The fact that they're not acting like twins, it's like they have these moments of extreme sexual tension and they let it drip out, occasionally. If you're gonna be incestual you might as well embrace it."

"Well, it's not like it's their fault," he returned, moving his other horse up to support the other

"Still," She said crossing her arms, "it's strange watching them drag it out like that."

"Kinda like us." She furrowed her brow but didn't have time to retort as Maria Hill came in on their earpieces. ordering them to report to the deck

"Postponed?" He asked getting up enthusiastically. She smirked almost deviously

"If you can wait."


	2. Communication

"Mornin'" Hawkeye greeted Quicksilver and Scarlet Witch outside the breakroom, who quickly tried to dissimulate, pulling away from each other and straightening their hair with red faces.

"Yeah Hill we're on our way." She talked into her earpiece, turning the corner.

"Is she that impatient?"

"Well, at least it's not Fury."

"At least Fury cracked jokes."

"Way better than yours too."

"Hey, mine take finesse and planning to create alright?"

"That would explain your bad timing."

"Oh I'm sorry, I didn't know you were a comedy expert."

"Christ it's like we hire teenagers here." Sighed Maria Hill as she approached them with crossed arms,

"Fury giving you the short end today Maria?" Clint asked, noticing her usual tone while standing at attention.

"I'm afraid that's above your pay grade Barton"

"Apparently so is your personality."

"Keep it up with the banter, might get you fired some day."

"And I'm sure they'd believe you Natasha, those kind of assets could get you anywhere." He replied, regressing to their usual flirty discourse,

"Oh yeah, you don't remember pulling a few strings to get here?"

"I pulled a lot off."

"So you'll put that on your resume right after 'adept archer'"

"And right before comedy genius."

"Unless your job description includes assassin I don't care, now let's go."

"Who shoved the stick up your ass?" He asked, finally chuckling

"Also, above your pay grade."  
-

"So I noticed your sly comment earlier." Natasha said, gunning down four hydra agents with guns akimbo. Hawkeye jumped down next to her, testing out the new aerial bow Stark let him 'borrow.' He already named it Icarus.

"About what?" He replied, picking a few off around her.

"In the break room bird brain." She vaulted over his crouched body and blew out the wheels of an armored car, that spun out and quickly combusted.

"You really thought this was a better place to talk than the helicarrier?"

"I thought you'd get distracted in the helicarrier. SWITCH." They spun around each other and knocked out the agents behind them. The fight was slowly becoming like a dance as they skilfully shot down anything that came their way.

"If anything you were drooling at what the twins were doing."

"You wish you could see me drooling."

"I don't think I'd have to try too hard."

"CLINT!" she called, and to his dismay a rather sizable specialist rapidly launched fists at his gut, staining it with the agent's blood, and kicked him in the chest,violently knocking the wind out of him as he hit the floor. Barton struggled to breathe on the cold hard ground as the soldier stood over him.

"Wrong side of the bed huh? Yeah, I get that a lot." He felt his head get pummeled by the same figure before starting to fade. He saw blurry images of his partner jumping on the other and wrapping around his collar, only to get thrown on the ground and disappear as he struggled to regain consciousness.

"Bar… s-...rep...…. resp…" He faintly heard as Maria tried to reach him. What were minutes felt like hours to him as he slowly, painfully, powerlessly faded.  
-

 _"Whatever you have to do, just take her out of the picture." He strolled into the quaint ballroom, adjusting his cuffs and tightening his earpiece. Presenting his invitation to the guard up front he looked around cautiously. Truthfully there was nothing suspicious about the place, nothing out of the ordinary. It was almost too quiet for him, too easy._  
 _But he was anxious to get to work. He found the bartender and ordered a drink; nothing too exciting but enough to relax him. Noticing a boldly red haired woman probably in her early 30's looking like nothing he'd ever seen, hairs rose on the back of Hawkeye's neck. She fit S.H.I.E.L.D.'s description perfectly. She was staring at her drink blankly, ignoring the agent who was clearly trying to catch her eye. Strange. It usually worked on the countless women he so disrespected._

 _"Tell me, how'd a nice girl like you end up in a dump like this." She took a moment to look around, and wanted to agree._

 _"Fella done me wrong." She downed the vodka-heavy bloody mary,_

 _"You got lousy taste in men, kid."_

 _"I think I got that." Clint started to question, she looked depressed, defeated. She knew she was going to die in the quaint ballroom somehow, and more than anything he hated shooting a wounded target._

 _"You've got," He started, wincing at the amount of alcohol she relentlessly downed, "Some tolerance don't you?"_

 _"Enough to keep me away from nights with boys like you."_

 _"Oh really, another bloody mary over here please." It took about 7 orders to make him realize she wouldn't yield the same, unflinching disposition._

 _"You're not killing me with alcohol, I'll tell you that."_

 _"Why would you think I'd kill a girl like you?"_

 _"I'm more dangerous than you can imagine, 'kid.'"_

 _"KGB?"_

 _"Black Ops."_

 _"So, you trust me then." For once she let the glass sway in her hand._

 _"I could care less, half the world's trying to kill me at the moment."_

 _"And you assumed I am?" She turned to him,_

 _"That earpiece right there." She nodded to the minuscule bluetooth he wore, "Smallest in the world, S.H.I.E.L.D. issued." He unhesitatingly removed it and gave it to her,_

 _"80% deaf. Lost it when I was a kid." She knew some part of it was a lie, she just couldn't decide what._

 _"Well that gadget you have there doesn't exactly look like a phone." He took it from his pocket and handed it to her,_

 _"Just high-tech, here." Still unimpressed she returned to her drink._

 _"Did an amateur job at hiding your vest." Looking down he clenched his fists and sighed._

 _"Look kid, I got sent here to protect 'the Black Widow,' if that isn't you then honestly I'm wasting my time here."_

 _"Sounds like you are." He took one glance at her with a pained look in his eyes. It wasn't unusual for him to stray from S.H.I.E.L.D.'s direct orders, but this time was, different. Somehow._

 _"Tab please."_

 _He didn't leave the ballroom, he watched her from the floor above, ordering a few bloody maries of his own. She was the first woman in a while to interest him, to perplex him, and he was supposed to assassinate her. Shaking his head he drank, and almost had to spit it out. How does she not drop dead? he thought. After a few minutes he saw a group of large Russian men in suits surround her, while she stood them down unafraid. Her acceptance of death scared him, but he watched them intently as they closed in on her. Getting awfully bold with their hands, he thought, but he didn't move. Not yet, he had to be sure. For a while she said nothing, staring into the eyes of their apparent leader as they whispered in her ear. He saw uzis holstered on their waist, and a scar over the leader's eye, continuing through his bald head. Hawkeye clenched his fist eagerly,_

 _"Come on Widow," He whispered to himself, "Don't let me down." The leader suddenly held his own gun against her gut, and said something to her in Russian. Though he was rusty in that language, he was more than adept at reading lips,_

 _"Razve vy ne khotite , vy by sozhgli tozhe." As he talked a single tear ran down her cheek. Clint jumped down from the balcony, rolled and punched the leader off his barstool. He kicked the other next to her in the groin and ducked to dodge a punch from another. As they tried to regroup the Black Widow was already on her feet, back to back with Hawkeye._

 _"You ok?"_

 _"Fine, you take the smaller ones around me, I got the big guy."_

 _"Got it"_


	3. Honesty

He wiped the tear that fell to the side of her mouth away,

"See?" He said with a pained smile, still feeling the injury from their last mission. It made her want to laugh, cry, scream, and kiss him all at the same time. She held his hand against her face like a pillow to fall asleep in.

"I think it's time we stopped kidding ourselves Natasha." He tried to pry love out of her beautiful, concealing green eyes, the same love he had tried to eclipse with jokes or his own pride. But she said nothing, only continued to occasionally let a tear fall in his hand. She curled up next to him on the hospital bed, wanting, needing, to feel his warmth around her. She knew he was right, but there were so many repercussions..

"I-I can't lose you Clint, if something like this happens again…" She trailed off as she tried to stop the tears in her eyes. The second time the black widow ever cried was the most frustrating for her yet.

"But wouldn't it be worse, thinking about what we could've been to keep ourselves from worrying about each other, than giving it a shot?"

He lost his cool. The normally composed, calm, and collected agent was losing control the same way she was. The years of emotional and sexual tension between them had all amounted to this, their confession. The day all the smoke and mirrors were destroyed, and all the boundaries torn down. The day the bird and the spider were finally honest with each other. Natasha moved up to kiss him, as both their hearts beat in unison. Fast and steady. She deepened the kiss, pushing his head back slightly as she passionately indulged in what they secretly wished for for years. Their dilated eyes reopened as they pulled away for breath, and they gazed into each other's bright, perfervid orbs, like time had stopped for them to register their fantasies as reality.

"How long until I'm out of here?" He whispered between intense pecks at her lips

"They told me to get the doctor as soon as you were up I'll be right back." The redhead tried to sit up but the agent pulled her back down,

"You think you're getting off so easy?" She returned his mischievous grin, and they returned to their enlightenment.  
-

 _1 week later  
-_

"Natasha." He whispered, his head resting on her chest that she didn't bother to cover.

"Yeah?"  
"What do you think about a skylight, here in the bedroom."  
"It'd be a little expensive but, we do get some nice moonlight this time of year." She put her lips on his head, kissing lazily as she caressed his light blonde hair. She fell asleep much easier than he did, his eyes were still wide open as he nonchalantly studied the roof of their new home.

"Natasha."

"Mhmm.."

"You think we're really that safe out here?"

"S.H.I.E.L.D.'s got us totally off the radar, no one'll chase us here." She was right, S.H.I.E.L.D. had arranged for them a private estate in South Africa for them to, recuperate. Maria and the others were understanding, and the break was only for two weeks, but Hawkeye couldn't help feeling nervous. Something had to go wrong, right?

After a while he took her free hand and felt it, it was soft and smooth, but rugged at the same time. He ran his thumb over her creamy white skin as he felt her relax and begin to drift away.

"But Clint, you won't-"

"I'll be fine, you get some rest."

"..Mmrm...Better not be up before I am, I love you."

"I love you"  
-

She woke up the next morning, her partner still on her chest, sleeping. For once. She decided she wouldn't concern herself if it didn't affect him, but.. And since the day she started at S.H.I.E.L.D. He was particularly effective with about 3-4 hours of sleep, but..

Soon after his own eyes fluttered awake, and he smiled as he took in his, surroundings.

 _"Dobroye utro Natal'ya , kak spalos'?"_  
Translation: Good morning Natasha. Did you sleep well?

She returned his warm, drowsy smile,

 _"Vy uluchshili svoy russkiy, Klint . YA mechtal o zolotykh lesov i morskikh solnts."_  
You've improved your Russian, Clint. I dreamt of golden forests and navy suns.

 _"Tak poetichno."_  
So poetic.

He closed his eyes and let her nibble on the side of his lips, a part of him still denying this was a reality. With another frolicking in fields of pleasure.

 _"Chto o vas , vy , nakonets, spat' ?"_  
What about you, did you finally sleep?

 _"Konechno , vasha grud' tol'ko podushka mne nuzhno."_  
Of course, your breasts are the only pillow I need.

 _"O ostanovit' yego , on slishkom rano."_  
Oh stop it, it's too early.

 _"Eto nikogda ne slishkom rano dlya muzhchin , dorogaya_  
It's never too early for men, dear

They shared a short giggle, then Natasha climbed onto him, sitting on his waist.

"Tell me Barton, when did you fall in love with me."

"You remember the Rylio ballroom?"

"Oh my god, first sight, really bird brain?" She threw her head back laughing,

"Oh come on you're blushing. But, no, I was sort of, fascinated with the 'Black Widow.' You intrigued me so much that night that I just had to know more. And eventually, you know as time went on it developed into an embarrassing crush." He took her hand again and kissed it, feeling the goosebumps he incited.

"Well, for the record you hid it much better than I did, you should've seen the looks I got."

"Thank you, and I'm sorry for teasing you so much over the years, I didn't know I had such an effect on you."

"Pff, ok, I'm sorry for all the times you had to slouch-"

"Ha- enough out of you." He embraced her in his arms and pulled her down, and they shared a deep kiss that broke into smaller pecks as she tried to pull away again,

"Wait... mm..let me just.. take..this phone call I'll be right back."

"Nonono aww. Well guess she's just the one that got away. Plenty fish in the sea Clint, better just get back out there and-"  
"I promise." She called, laughing.

 **Authors note: Hey, just had a bit of writers block, I got a little ambitious with that chapter-a-week thing. I'm no longer promising chapters in a set amount of time, but they'll come. Also, I know the spacings are iffy on these last two chapters, I'll remaster them once I post Chapter 4. Thanks for reading everyone.**


	4. Intimacy

**Warning: First chapter with a sex scene. Continue as you wish.**

"Ok, I'll talk to you later, bye Ro." The redhead set the phone down in the closet as she slipped on one of her boyfriend's Iron Maiden t-shirts. It was short enough around the chest so that her, features, were easily visible to him. The tease was half the battle, she thought. Their shared taste in music (and wardrobe) was discovered some years ago, when they were still just agents. She remembered the moment with a smile.

 _"Right, so…"_

 _"Turn here." She directed, holding the map to the rural district of athens._

 _"You sure it's not a left? Like we should've taken ages ago? I mean look we're heading straight toward-"_

 _"I know where we're going Clint, just drive." He took a dejected sip of coffee, quickly glancing to catch her squinting at the map._ I guess he thought it was cute, she reminisced, sifting her legs through underwear, trying to decide which pair of jeans she was to borrow today.

 _"Whatever you say ginger, just try not to compromise the mission as much as you want to."_

 _"Do I look like a ginger to you?" She turned and stared at him with daggers for eyes, and he struggled to keep his own on the vacant, dusty road. This was the moment she first suspected his feelings. When he looked at her it wasn't a desperate, lustful glance it was more, heartfelt. She thought. The Black Widow secretly loved his consuming, intense look as much as he loved her eyebrow lift and the lip bite he wished to see. But, like all things in her occupation they kept it quiet._

 _"What, redheads aren't gingers?"_

 _"No, don't even have freckles and my hair's too dark." She returned, pouting and going back to her map._

 _"Well I'm sorry, didn't mean to make you feel self-conscious."_ In that rare moment she did not bother to retort to her usual partner in banter. The joke just, dissipated. No retort, no answer, no comeback. She knew she should've said something. Hell she should've kissed him on the spot ages ago. But there were always times for quarles. _Hesitantly, he popped in his recently purchased Avenged Sevenfold Cd, and somehow dispelled the silent, awkward air. Slightly. But a few tracks in she finally started humming along and tapping her feet to the songs._

 _"They, uh, popular in Russia?"_

 _"Mm." He smirked, reached over and unlocked the glove compartment in front of her._

 _"Here, whatever you want."_

Natasha snapped back to reality when she felt the same man's calloused fingers traverse her lower back, and near her upper body.

"Mechtat' snova my Romanov?"  
Translation: Daydreaming again are we Romanoff? Their hearts simultaneously fluttered as she slowly, softly gasped in the safety of the archer's embrace.

"Vy znayete, vy ne vsegda dolzhny govorit' so mnoy po-russki dorogoy"  
You know, you don't always have to speak to me in russian dear

"Vy ne udobneye ?"  
You're not more comfortable?

"YA ne mog byt' , v vashikh rukakh."  
I couldn't be, in your arms.  
Grinning, he kissed her on the forehead, then smoothened her brow furrowed by his own teasing nature. She hated to be kissed on the forehead, or treated like she was less powerful.

"I'm going to hit the shower, are we going to the beach today?"

"Sure."

"Well then you better come join me." As he walked away she decided, with a good look, to oblige her naked partner. Natasha threw the shirt and panties she just put on to the floor, and followed him to the spacious shower, where he turned it on, and released a sigh of relief as the hot water enveloped him like a waterfall. The sight made her heart beat faster, taking his hand with reckless abandon and an accidental giggle. He caressed her face and breathed her in, nose to her nape, letting all his other senses take her in before he let his mouth explore hers. The space between them collapsed as their tongues collided, and the water felt cold in comparison to their adrenalized passion. As she moved to worship his neck, Clint's fingers explored every crevice of her body, moving her hips in rhythm, stroking her legs up, and harder back down, massaging her belly in an upward motion to reach her breasts, fulfilling her hourglass figure. He traversed the redhead's upper body and smoothened her shoulders and neck, reaching to the scruff of her neck to suddenly pull her hair, pulling down slightly and leaning forward to catch her with an aggressive, rather loud kiss on the lips. And while he indulged in her voluptuous body she took the opportunity to pin him to the wall and wrap one leg around him, pushing back with the same strength, and steadying herself with her palms on his cheeks. The water kept running, Dampening their skin to smoothen the friction they created. A constant among the storm of impassioned fire they forged. A good ten minutes went by as they swayed, mesmerized in the trance they had only dreamed of. Not stopping to breathe or consult, The Black Widow positioned herself on her partners member, and thrusted her hips forward vigorously, feeling a wave of relief and pleasure crash on her ten times the intensity of the water above her. Taken by surprise the archer groaned in the same expression, and eventually lifted her up by her right leg to accommodate her desire for control. She eventually found a rhythm in her humps, keeping perfect balance in her lover's steadfast embrace. Though he let her have the upper hand, he made haste to rough her up a bit. Smacking her thighs and ass like a stubborn mule, and violently pecking at her neck with an enthusiasm she had only let him use. Her moans grew louder as she moved faster, ever so slightly losing her grasp on him. And although he tried to keep her steady and in rhythm, he knew he was close as well. The breathing grew heavier, the moans louder, the bodies warmer, the grasps desperate, the kisses harder. Their symphony reached maximum crescendo while the rhythm of the water kept time, and the two dared not to speak as to not lose their focus on each other's lust. The spider shuddered violently, nearing climax, while the bird made sure she reached hers first. Within a good thirty seconds he thrusted in to her rapidly, grinding his teeth near to bleed to hold himself back. And finally ending her assault Natasha went limp, bouncing on Clint's hips as she yelled in a fit of release. The outburst bounced around the walls of the bathroom, and filled his ears like an empty jar, driving him up the wall. Figuratively, of course. Soon after, with the same feel he thrusted into her, releasing his self into her, and laid her down slowly on the floor, kneeling, breathing with deep gasps and heavy sighs. Their dilated eyes met once more, with a silent attitude that was, speechless.

"That was insane." She ran her hand through her hair, still feeling the orgasm while her legs struggled to keep still. He crawled his way over to her, placing his forehead on hers.

"Try to keep up, kid."

 **Hello once again loyal supporters, I'd first thank to like the guest who left reviews, it was very kind of you, your support keeps me going. Also big thanks to the followers and people who have favorited, and the people who check back for new chapters. Your views help me punch that writer's block in the face. There might be some more smut later in the series, but I will prioritize the plot and characterization. Also, I'm taking requests! Feel free to pm or leave a review detailing a one-shot fanfiction idea, and I'll get back to you if I can make it happen. (First, I was thinking an AU BlackWidow/Maria Hill one-shot based on the song Want by Disturbed.) PS: Feel free to notify me if there are any grammatical, spacing, or wording errors you'd like to see fixed.**  
 **PPS: Yes, I had to include that A7x reference. I mean come on, it's chapter four..**.


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